In Steve Novak’s mind, Amar’e Stoudemire has generated enough credibility as a person and a teammate that an apology for his postgame punch is unnecessary.

“Me personally, no,” Novak said when asked Wednesday if he thought Stoudemire had to apologize to his Knicks teammates for hitting a fire extinguisher, lacerating his hand and forcing himself out of Thursday night’s Game 3 and probably Game 4 against Miami.

“I’m with Amar’e every day,” he said. “I know what kind of person he is. I know how much basketball means to him. I know what the team means to him. And he would never do something intentionally to set himself or the team back and I know that. And I think the whole team knows that. It’s unfortunate, but to be honest, it could happen to anybody.”

In addressing the incident at length for the first time since it happened late Monday night, Stoudemire and the Knicks left it unclear whether the $100 million power forward actually did apologize to his teammates for his selfish, thoughtless act.

Coach Mike Woodson indicated Stoudemire did apologize. But nobody else really suggested that was the case, including Stoudemire. He said he “talked to my teammates” and that “they all understand.” But when asked directly if he apologized to his team, he didn’t respond.

“I talked to him personally over the phone [Tuesday],” Carmelo Anthony said when asked if Stoudemire apologized to the team. “We had our conversation. He feels bad about what happened. He understands what was at stake, the situation. The only thing I care about is him being healthy and his hand being OK. He did it, it’s over with. I don’t really care about that.”